The music inA Complete Unknownfeels different from most other musician biopics — it’s much more authentic and atmospheric — and there’s a good reason for that. Rather than trying to chronicle its subject’s entire life,A Complete Unknowncaptures a specific chapter inBob Dylan’s storied career. Based on the bookDylan Goes Electric!by Elijah Wald,A Complete Unknownbegins with Dylan’s arrival on the New York folk scene in 1961 and continues up to his fateful performance with an electric guitar at the Newport Folk Festival in 1965.
AlthoughA Complete Unknownmakes some changes to the true storyand takes some artistic liberties with its subject matter, there’s a lot the biopic gets right. Timothée Chalamet nails Dylan’s mysterious aura and creative genius. Director James Mangold immerses viewers in the New York of the ‘60s and a transformative period for the music industry. The film has a loose, hangout feel; it’s more of a character study than a strict narrative. It also has much more vibrant musical sequences than the average music biopic — and there’s a fascinating behind-the-scenes reason for that.
Musician Biopics Usually Make Their Music Sound Too Clean & Manufactured In Post
The Music In Elvis & Bohemian Rhapsody Is Very Artificial
Typically, biopics of musicianstend to overproduce their music in post. They’ll touch up the actors’ singing electronically or replace their voice altogether with a better singer. They’ll add in all the instruments and orchestrations as a flat layer of soundtrack in the editing bay. This usually makes the music sound too polished to really immerse viewers in the moment. It’s like the record is being played over the scene;the music isn’t an integral component of the scene itself. This process makes the music in biopics likeElvisandBohemian Rhapsodysound too clean and manufactured.
A Complete Unknown’s Actors Performed All The Music Live During Filming
The Cast Played Their Own Instruments & Did Their Own Singing
What makes the music inA Complete Unknownsound different from the music in other musician biopics is that all the music was recorded in-camera.The cast ofA Complete Unknownall played their own instruments and did their own singing (viaEntertainment Weekly). Mangold didn’t meddle with their performances in post;he just put a camera in front of the actors and captured their honest-to-God musicianship. This required a lot of commitment from the actors, but it made all the difference to the final product. They’re not just actors pretending to be musicians — they’re the real deal.
The title ofA Complete Unknownis taken from the chorus of Dylan’s classic 1965 single “Like a Rolling Stone.”
Chalamet learned how to perform 40 Dylan songs and played them all on the set. He played the guitar, played the harmonica, and sang on all these songs for however many takes Mangold wanted to get. Edward Norton performed all his own music as Pete Seeger, Monica Barbaro performed all her own musicas Joan Baez, and Boyd Holbrook performed all his own music as Johnny Cash.The actors all mastered the chosen instruments of the musical icons they were playingand put their own unique spin on their classic records.
According to sound mixer Tod Maitland, the crew didn’t use any earpieces or timing mechanisms, so the songs in A Complete Unknown are all performed 100% live.
These in-camera performances utilized period-accurate microphones and instruments. Chalamet, who co-produced the film in addition to starring in it,didn’t wantA Complete Unknownto have any “element of artifice.”According to sound mixer Tod Maitland, the crew didn’t use any earpieces or timing mechanisms, sothe songs inA Complete Unknownare all performed 100% live. There’s no Hollywood trickery;just pure, unadulterated, unadorned music.
The In-Camera Performances Make A Complete Unknown Feel Like A Concert Film
It Has The Atmosphere Of A Live Show
The in-camera performances makeA Complete Unknownfeel more like a concert film than a standard biopic. When the camera watches Chalamet’s Dylan take the stage in a muggy underground nightclub and slowly pushes in as he plays “I Was Young When I Left Home” in its entirety,A Complete Unknowncaptures the atmosphere of a live show.Most music biopics are underwhelming, because they usually feel fake and artificial, butA Complete Unknownis as authentic and realistic as they come.
Was Bob Dylan Really Called Judas For Playing An Electric Guitar Like In A Complete Unknown?
When Bob Dylan plays an electric guitar in A Complete Unknown, an audience member yells out, “Judas!” Was this based on a real incident?
The crowd’s reactions feel real, too. It doesn’t feel like extras responding to direction, because they’re actually being treated to the performance their characters are reacting to. When the Newport audience responds enthusiastically to Dylan’s debut of “The Times They Are A-Changin’,” their enthusiasm feels real. When he plays “Like a Rolling Stone” with an electric guitar and the folk fans feel betrayed, their anger feels real, too. A lot of musical biopics have actors doing a spot-on impression of legendary musicians, but none of them have planted their audience at a concert likeA Complete Unknown.
